This Sunday, October 3rd, a group of us will be meeting at the Dillingham Airfield at 8:30am to run Kaena Point out & back with Heather Howells for her 'final' training run before she leaves for her 7 day, 250km/155m race in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa, an adventure that she will be undertaking as a charity event for HOKISA, a small orphanage in South Africa that cares for pediatric HIV/AIDS patients for children who lost their parents to the disease. Check out this link to read a recent article written about Heather, the race, and the charity: http://www.thehawaiiindependent.com/story/jw-feature-9-22-laies-heather-howells-to-cross-the-kalahari-desert-for-a-ca/

I know 8:30am is like the middle of the day for some of you... but we want to time it so that we can have lunch together at Banzai Sushi Bar in the North Shore Market Place next to Cholo's in Haleiwa afterwards. Same deal as for Cheryl's birthday lunch, please RSVP to julie.takishima@yahoo.com if you can join us for lunch there at 11:30am.

I know this blog is for posts about ultrarunning, and I think winning two back-to-back races in the same weekend must somehow qualify. This is Matt's wife, Lesley, and I just wanted to share some pictures and stories of Matt's exceptional weekend. I'm super proud of him!

We went over to Maui for our third anniversary, and like any good ultrarunner, Matt combined our vacation with some racing. He intended to run the Maui Tacos 5K on Saturday, then the Maui Half Marathon on Sunday.

Saturday morning he won the 5K fairly easily in a time of 16:07.
After a snorkel trip that afternoon, we went to spectate the Front Street Mile, and watched Nate Brannen, Canadian Olympian in Beijing and 3:52 miler, win the mile with a nasty finishing kick. We chatted with him briefly afterwards, and he dropped that he was going to run the half marathon the next day for an "easy $400."

As the defending half-marathon winner from last year, Matt had been hoping for that "easy $400," too. So in a last minute gamble for some prize money, at about 5pm on Saturday afternoon he switched his entry for the next morning to the full marathon. He hadn't trained for a full, the longest training runs he had been doing were about 10 miles. We didn't know if there were Olympians that had secretly registered for the full. Matt didn't have any power gels to eat during the race. The gamble was huge.

Here enters good HURT buddy Paul Hopwood. With nowhere to pick up power gels after 5pm in Lahaina, Matt calls up Paul in desperation and asks him to bring a few goos to the race start. Paul was already signed up to race the full marathon, and graciously agreed to help out a fellow HURT runner in need.

To sum up this long story, Matt managed to WIN the Maui marathon by nearly eight minutes with a time of 2:47:36! WOW! Paul came in a very close third, due only to a hamstring lock in the home stretch. Otherwise HURT guys would have taken both top spots. Congrats guys!

This past weekend, me and a couple of buddies made a run up the Poamoho Hele Loa and the Poamoho Ridge Trail. Permit was required, and we had permit in hand. We'd looked at having some friend be our support, to meet us at the end of the Hele Loa and run the last part, but that fell through (so we ran unsupported).

Good run, good route, good trail. This is a run worth doing. The last mile is not running; maybe an aggressive hike, but not running. We traded great running weather for lesser views from the top, but that was fine.

Last minute vacation plan. Heading to Nepal 1st 2 weeks of nov. Default plan is run/hike Annapurna circuit + sanctuary (+ more if weather cooperates). But would like any advice from any of youse guys, or contacts to folks who have been there, done that. Anyone with 90K UA miles to burn who'd like to come along please e-mail ;-) For a taste of the scenery check out the slide-show at my colleague's page: http://picasaweb.google.com/jpw200/AnnapurnaCircuit#

Traveling back to Hawaii for a running vacation X-Terra, as many Hurt loops as possible and Honolulu Marathon, Anyone have an apartment they would like to rent from 3 December 2010 to 13 December 2010 for 2 adults and 2kids. Give me a call 808-554-7830 or martypuerto@hotmail.com

Rob Lahoe returned from his trip to Washington and submitted a great run report on his attempt at the Plain 100. His photo at left is a site I never saw the year I attempted Plain. When we were on this same peak, we were in almost white-out conditions. It just looks like a nice summer day by this photo.

I must also take this time to defend my position where Rob says I lied about a particular climb. I stand by what I originally said.

Otherwise it is a great report and even though I can feel Rob's disappointment, as in all 100 mile runs, the personal learning and growth makes it all worthwhile. Great job Rob! Click here to read Rob's report.

With the Peacock 54 looming large on the horizon (October 23), it is time to get some miles in up at Peacock.

This week we will meet at 6:45 a.m. at the lot behind the control tower at Dillingham Airfield. Remember now is the time to get your hydration, nutrition, and electrolytes dialed in vs. race day.

Bring what you think you will need. I am sure you will have all kinds of distance options. Remember, you can always just do the mileage you want by turning around, doing an out and back or making up your own loop.

Vi & Peg’s Adventure Trek ~ Kualoa Ranch

Sunday,
October 10, 2010

7:00 am
Registration ~ 8:00 am Race Start

An Adventure to raise awareness
about ALS

In honor
of local athlete Vi Jones-Medusky & local artist Peggy Chun

Honolulu, Hawaii 9/ 10/ 2010 : Join the
adventure in honor of Vi & Peg on a beautiful 3+ mile course
along jeep roads, cow pastures and stream crossings through lush
Kaaawa Valley. You can help raise awareness about ALS and call
attention to the need for more funding to find a cure for this
disease while trekking through sites where Jurassic Park,
Windtalkers, Lost and several other movies were filmed.

Vi Jones-Medusky has been
living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis since 2004. ALS
progressively destroys nerve cells controlling muscles, ultimately
paralysing voluntary movement. An accomplished athlete, Vi has
finished marathons in Honolulu, Boston, New York, Portland, Los
Angeles and Maui as well as five Ultra Marathons and three Ironman
Triathlons – Vi kept active for as long as possible: when she
could no longer run she biked, when she could no longer bike, she
swam. Now bedridden and requiring 24 hour care, Vi’s beautiful
smile and spirit is an inspiration to all.

Hawaii artist Peggy Chun known for her
brilliant and whimsical watercolors of Island life succumbed to ALS
in 2008, 7 years after being diagnosed with the disease. When Peggy
could no longer paint with her hands, she held the paintbrush between
her teeth. When she was completely paralyzed, she used a computer
program that read her eyes, and when that failed, she signalled with
her eyes so that caretakers could create her artwork. She never
stopped painting and wrote on her website “After all, you don’t
paint with your hands, you paint with your heart.”

This trek is organized by Hawaii Ultra
Running Team (HURT) and MDA with a team of about 50 dedicated
volunteers. Everyone is encouraged to wear a creative costume to add
to the fun and bring a smile to Vi’s face. Race applications will
be sent to all past participants and will also be available at local
sporting event stores and online at hurthawaii.blogs.com.

Prizes from Peggy Chun’s
Gallery will be awarded randomly to finishers.

About MDA ALS Division

MDA has led the fight against ALS for
more than 50 years. Vital health care programs such as
hospital-affiliated clinics and wheelchair purchases are funded
almost entirely by individual private contributors. For more
information about MDA's ALS Division, visit www.als-mda.org.